Cooking with a Beijing Family

First Meal:

Mogu (Stir Fried Mushrooms)
Ingredients:
4 cups of Mushrooms of your choice (Ex: Oyster)
3 Tsp. Salt
¼ cup Oil
2 Tbsp Liao Jiu
¼ cup water
Prep:
Wash and the soak the mushrooms in warm water for 10 minutes, then break the mushroom clusters into individual pieces

Cooking:
1. Boil half a pot of water, add a splash of oil. Add half of the batch of mushrooms into the boiling water, let it cook for 5 minutes and then strain and plate. Repeat for the second half.
2. Heat the ¼ cup of oil to HIGH in the wok, add the mushrooms and stir continuously. Add the salt, Liao Jiu and the ¼ cup of water, stir a few times and plate.


Su Cai (Cauliflower)
Ingredients:
1. One head of cauliflower
2. 1 Tsp salt

Prep:
Break the Cauliflower into one-inch pieces, add the salt to a bowl of warm water and wash the cauliflower in the water.
Cook:
1. Boil 6 cups of water, add the cauliflower and cook for 5-10 minutes until cooked through, strain and plate, add cilantro for garnish

Doufu (Tofu)
Ingredients:
1. One package of firm tofu
2. 1 Tsp salt
3. Corn Starch/Water mixture (1 Tsp corn starch, ¼ cup water)
4. ¼ cup oil
5. 1 Tsp ginger
6. 1 Tbsp Liao Jiu
7. Sprig of Cilantro
8. 2 Tbsp soy sauce
Prep:
*Rinse the Tofu, cut into ½ inch, ½ inch by 1-inch pieces
*Boil ½ cup of water in the wok, add the tofu, add 1 Tsp salt then plate and let rest


Cook:
1. Heat the oil in wok, when hot add ginger and tofu stirring constantly
2. Add soy sauce, ½ of the cornstarch/water mixture, salt, Liao Jiu, stirring constantly
3. Add the remaining cornstarch/water mixture, stir and then plate
4. Top it off with the sprig of cilantro

Xia Huang Gua (Shrimp and Cucumber)
Ingredients:
1. 4 cups fresh small shrimp
2. ¼ cup Liao Jiu
3. 1 tsp flour
4. 1 tbsp ginger
5. 1 tsp salt
6. 1 cup water
Prep:
Remove shrimp heads and tails, wash
Cut cucumber into ½ inch pieces

Cooking
1. Heat 1 cup of water on high
2. Add shrimp and stir for 10 seconds until shrimp are pink, plate, add flour and stir
3. Add dash of oil to pan, when hot add shrimp to pan, stir continuously, ginger, cucumber, salt, Liao Jiu, stir for a minute and then plate


Jirou (Chicken)
Ingredients:
1. 1 package of chicken breasts
2. 2 egg whites
3. 1 Tbsp corn starch
4. One green bell pepper
5. 1 Tsp salt
6. 1 cup of chopped red onions
7. 1 tbsp soy sauce
8. 1 cup celery
9. 1 tsp ginger
10. Splash of Liao Jiu

Prep:
Cut chicken into inch pieces
Beat egg whites together, add flour, 1 Tbsp of oil, salt and mix
Add chicken to egg white mixture, coat
Cut green pepper and onion into1 inch pieces

Cooking:
1. Add ¼ cup oil to pan and heat on HIGH
2. Add chicken to oil and stir continuously until all chicken pieces turn white, plate
3. Use oil in pan from chicken add the red onions, green pepper, celery, ginger and stir continuously
4. Add salt, Liao Jiu and soy sauce to the pan and stir for 1 minute
5. Add chicken to pan, stir and plate

Second Meal:

Mogu (Mushrooms)

Ingredients:
1. 4 cups of button mushrooms
2. Corn Starch/Water mixture (1 Tsp corn starch, ¼ cup water)
3. 2 tbsp of oil
4. 1 tbsp ginger
5. 1 tbsp liao jiu
6. 1tbsp salt
7. 1 small cucumber

Prep:
• Remove the stems from the mushrooms, then slice into thin slices
• Boil 4 cups of water, add mushrooms, add salt cook until done, plate
• Slice cucumber into thin slices
Cook:
1. Heat wok with oil, add ginger, green onion, mushrooms, liao jiu and salt, stir
2. Add cucumber, cornstarch and water mixture, stir for a few times then plate

Hong Shao Ju Rou (Pork Stew)
Ingredients:
1. Package of pork
2. 1 piece of bing tang
3. 6 inch green onion stick
4. 3 pieces of ginger
5. 1 pinch of da liao and xing ye (spices)
6. 1 tbsp liao jiu
7. 1 tsp salt
8. 1 tbsp soy sauce
Prep:
• Use the side of a butcher’s knife to pound the ginger pieces
Cook:
1. Heat wok with oil, add soy sauce, bing tang and pork—cook for 5 minutes, stirring continuously, then plate
2. Boil a pot of water (enough to cover the pork), add green onion stick, ginger, spices, liao jiu, salt and pork—cover and simmer for 40 minutes to an hour
3. When most of the liquid has evaporated transfer plate to hot wok, add liao jiu and stir until all of the liquids are cooked off


Huang Yu (Fish)
Ingredients:
1. Whole fish (huang yu), gutted
2. 1 egg
3. Cornstarch/water mixture
4. 1 tsp chopped garlic
5. 1 tsp chopped green onion
6. 1 tsp chopped ginger
7. 1 tsp sugar
8. 1 tsp soy sauce
9. 1 tsp salt
10. 1 tbsp hua jiu
11. 1 cup muar
12. Half of a cucumber

Prep:
• Thinly slice cucumber
• Beat egg in a small bowl
• Soak muar in water for 20 minutes

Cook:
1. Heat wok with some oil, add whole fish, egg, cornstarch mixture, stir and cook for 5 minutes
2. Add garlic, green onion, ginger, sugar, soy sauce, salt and hua jiu—cover and cook for 10 minutes
3. Add muar to fish, cover and cook for 5 minutes
4. Uncover, add cucumber and then plate

Jielan (broccoli)
Ingredients:
1. 1 bunch of broccoli
2. 1 cup of muar
3. 1 tsp salt
4. 1 tbsp diced ginger
5. 1 tbsp diced green onion
6. 1 tbsp diced garlic

Prep:
• Soak muar in water until tender
• Break broccoli into inch pieces
• Soak broccoli pieces in bowl of room temperature water for 20 minutes

Cook:
1. Boil 6 cups of water, add broccoli, muar and salt—cook until broccoli is al dente, plate and set aside
2. Heat wok with oil, add ginger, green onions, broccoli and muar, garlic, and salt—stir continuously for 1 minute, then plate


Third Meal:

Jaozi (pot stickers)

Prep for Dough:
• Take a package of mien fen and follow directions as it instructs

Dough:
1. After mien is made, knead it with the palm of your hand for a few minutes
2. Cut the dough into 4 equally sized pieces
3. Take one piece at a time and roll it out into a dowel like shape with a diameter of approximately one inch
4. Take each dowel shaped piece and cut into 1 inch pieces, rotating the dough 90 degrees every time you cut
5. Using the palm of your hand, flatten each 1inch by 1inch piece into circles, roll each circle with rolling pin, rotating the circle as you roll it out to approximately 3 inches in diameter

Filling:

Su (vegetarian) Ingredients:
1. 5 eggs
2. 1 cup of finely chopped raw shrimp
3. 4 cups of chopped jiu cai (leek)
4. 2 tbsp of xiang you
5. 1 tsp of finely chopped ginger
6. 1 tbsp of finely chopped green onion
7. 2 tbsp of peanut oil
Nu Rou (beef) Ingredients:
1. 1 package of ground beef
2. 1egg
3. 1 tbsp of finely chopped ginger
4. 1 tbsp of jiu cai
5. 1 cup of shaved carrots
6. ¼ cup of chopped green onions
7. 1 tablespoon of hui xiang

Bao (folding jaozi):
1. Put approximately 1 spoonful of the mixture into each circle of dough
2. Use thumb and middle finger to seal the opposite ends of the circle, creating a seam along the diameter of the jaozi dough
3. Use pointer and thumb fingers to seal the remainder of both sides

Boiling:
1. Boil a full pot of water
2. Put one type of jaozi in at a time, do not mix meat and vegetable jaozi
3. Cook for 25 minutes
For vegetarian: when jaozi rises to the surface, add one bowl of cold water to pot
For meat: when jaozi rises to the surface, add two bowls of cold water to pot


Fourth Meal:

Gong Bao Ji Ding (Kong Pao Chicken)
Ingredients:
1. 2 breasts of chicken
2. 1 tsp salt
3. 1 tsp soy sauce
4. 2 tbsp oil
5. 1 cup whole peanuts
6. 1 tsp liao jiu
7. 1 tsp of chopped red chile peppers
8. 2 tsp of cornstarch
9. 2 tsp soy sauce
10. 2 tsp sugar
11. 1 tsp chicken flavoring
12. ½ leek, finely chopped
13. 2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
14. 2 tbsp vinegar


Prep:
• Combine half of the cornstarch, vinegar, sugar, leek, garlic, and chicken flavoring into small bowl
• Chop chicken into inch by 1 inch pieces—marinate in salt, soy sauce, the other half of the cornstarch and oil
• Wash peanuts

Cook:
1. Heat wok with oil to medium, add peanuts and stir continuously for 5 minutes, then plate
2. Use the leftover oil from the peanuts, heat to high and add red pepper, marinated chicken, sauce mixture, peanuts, liao jiu—stir until cooked through and then plate

Jiu Liu doufu (Fried Tofu)
Ingredients:
1. 1 package of firm tofu
2. ½ cup of cornstarch
3. 1 clove of garlic, chopped
4. 1 tbsp of jiu cai, chopped
5. 1 tbsp liao jiu
6. 1 piece of ginger
7. 3 tsp of sugar
8. 1 tsp of vinegar
9. 1 tbsp soy sauce
10. 2 tsp salt

Prep:
• Cut tofu into thirds, then cut each third on an angle into 1cm wide pieces
• Coat the tofu in cornstarch
• Soak the ginger for 10 minutes, then chop finely
• Mix garlic, ginger, jiu cai, liao jiu, sugar, vinegar, soy sauce, and salt in small bowl

Cook:
1. Heat wok with 1 cup of oil, add coated tofu, a few pieces at a time, turn over when golden brown and plate when both sides are done
2. Heat wok with oil, add fried tofu, add sauce and stir for 1 minutes then plate


Qiezi (eggplant):

Ingredients:
1. 1 Chinese eggplant
2. 1 tbsp salt
3. 1 tbsp of cornstarch
4. 2 garlic cloves, chopped
5. 1 tbsp of ginger, chopped
6. 1 tbsp of liao jiu
7. 1 tsp of vinegar
8. 1 large green chile pepper, chopped
9. ½ cup oil

Prep:
• Cut the eggplant on an angle and rotate as you cut, the pieces should be approximately 2 inches long and ½ inch thick
• Add salt to the eggplant in a bowl, toss to cover all of the eggplant with salt and let it sit for 15 minutes
• Firmly squeeze the water from the eggplant
• Mix cornstarch, garlic, ginger, oil, liao jiu, and vinegar in a small bowl

Cook:
1. Heat wok with ½ cup of oil, add ½ cup of eggplant at a time, cook until golden and then plate
2. Heat wok with oil, add the eggplant, sauce mixture, and chile peppers—stir until completely integrated, then plate

Fifth Meal:

Ju Cai (Pork)
Ingredients:
1. 1 tbsp cornstarch
2. 1 tbsp soy sauce
3. 1 egg white
4. 1 cup shaved carrots
5. 1 tsp chicken flavoring
6. 1 tbsp oil
7. 1 tsp salt
8. 1 tsp sugar
9. ¼ cup of liao jiu
10. 1 cup of muar
11. 1 clove of garlic, chopped
12. 1 tbsp green onion, chopped
13. 1 package of pork loin

Prep:
• Chop pork into thin slices
• Soak the muar until tender
• Mix the oil, salt, sugar, liao jiu, and chicken flavoring in small bowl

Cook:
1. Heat wok with oil, cook shaved carrots until almost done then plate, next cook chicken until almost done and then plate
2. Add garlic and green onion to the oil, then add muar, chicken and carrots—stir for 1 minute
3. Add the sauce mix, stir a few times and then plate

Mogu (Mushroom)
Ingredients:
1. 2 cups button mushrooms, thinly chopped
2. 2 cups of xiang gu mushrooms
3. 1 clove of garlic, chopped
4. 1 tsp salt
5. Cornstarch/water mixture
6. 1 tbsp soy sauce

Prep:
• Mix salt, cornstarch mix, and soy sauce in a small bowl

Cook:
1. Boil button mushrooms for 1 minute then plate
2. Boil xiang gu mushrooms for 1 minutes then plate
3. Heat the wok with oil, add garlic, mushrooms and sauce mix—stir for one minute and then plate


Nangua (squash)
Prep:
1. Cut in half and then cut into 1 inch slices
Cook:
1. Steam for approximately 10 minutes


Sixth Meal: Baozi (steamed dumplings)

Mien: buy package and follow directions

Prepare Dough:
1. After mien is made, knead it with the palm of your hand for a few minutes
2. Cut the dough into 4 equally sized pieces
3. Take one piece at a time and roll it out into a dowel like shape with a diameter of approximately one inch
4. Take each dowel shaped piece and cut into 2 inch pieces, rotating the dough 90 degrees every time you cut
5. Use the palm of your hand to flatten dough and use rolling pin to roll out dough into 4 inch circles

Rou de (meat filling):
Ingredients:
1. 1 bunch of celery
2. ½ green onion, chopped
3. 2 cups of pork, chopped finely
4. 2 tbsp ginger, chopped finely
5. 1 egg
Prep:
• Cut celery into 6 inch sticks and boil for 10 minutes, then chop finely
• Heat wok with oil, scramble the egg using chopsticks to stir until done
• Use hot wok to cook the pork until mostly done
• Mix all ingredients together in large bowl

Su de (Vegetable Filling):
Ingredients:
1. 2 cups of grated Jiao Gua (white squash)
2. 1 tsp salt
3. 1 tbsp oil
4. 1 tsp ginger
5. 1 tbsp green onion
6. 1 tsp soy sauce
7. 1 egg
8. 1 cup mushrooms, finely chopped

Prep:
• Heat wok with oil, scramble the egg using chopsticks to stir until done
• Mix ingredients together in large bowl

Bao (sealing the filling the dough):
1. Use your right thumb and right forefinger to press dough together accordion/fan style
2. Continue sealing in the direction of counterclockwise, while using left thumb to push remaining filling into the bao

Dou Jiang (Soy Milk)
1. Soak dry soy beans overnight
2. Take whole soy beans and put into soy milk liquefier
3. Add water, 1 part beans: 3